My analysis of the Custom House area stems from my interest in spaces of mobilization and community empowerment. I volunteer and work at my local community center which has given me a certain amount of acquired knowledge about such spaces and the way people move within them. Due to the parallels I see between Custom House and Elephant and Castle I naturally lent towards trying to understand how the community network operates. In my experience, spaces of empowerment are the best place to start in terms of mapping out a neighborhood due to the fact that their objective is to include even those that often find themselves on the outside. The cafe, similarly to community center serves as a point of connection bringing people together regardless of neuro-typicality, profession or religion but unlike a community center it is quite an intimate space which allows connections to happen quicker therefore it should be considered as an asset in terms of information dissemination and mobilization of citizen groups.
I decided to do my research at the Garden Community Cafe where over a period of 3,5 hours I gathered observations and 2 hours of interviews. The material proved challenging to cut down due to the wealth of information collected but also the dilemma of trying to create the most representative account of the conversations I had. As a part of my method, before speaking to anyone in the cafe I explained my project and I asked their permission to record them.
The Garden Community Cafe has been there for over 25 years and has been run for most of it by the Ascension Trust which is connected with the Ascension Church right outside the area of interest in Custom House. The Cafe provided a microcosm of the area and the people there gave me their perspectives on a range of issues which allowed me to explore the perceptions of this quickly changing area. The people that I saw and or spoke to at the cafe were volunteers, homeless, carers, autists, dementia patients, teachers, cancer trust workers, managers, community police officers, apprentices, psychologists and builders. Through the video we can observe a number of perceptions which are shaping the space. The reach of this cafe is large due to their connection to the Ascension Trust which shares office with Peach, a local advocacy group. Due to their proximity they collaborate on projects but also share information and divide work in the community.
There is a strong social network within the area due to the institutions that operate there. The area lost vital social spaces like pubs and workman's clubs which had an impact of how and how often people - especially the older generations - socialise. The local community centers, church and the community cafe are to some extent filling that void. The Cafe could serve as an important tool in terms of civic participation in the Custom House redevelopment project.